Also I am thinking he could of put a smaller battery or a less powerful battery. Since I dont know what battery goes with this 7.4l I have no idea. I have had the 5.7l and 4.3l but never the 7.4l so if any of you know I would greatly appreciate it

I am the proud owner of my 10th boat and have decide to buy this awesome Maxum. 1995 Maxum 2300 sr with the 7.4l merc with bravo 3 drive. I have a questions for you guys. When I bought the boat the previous owner was going to take it to the lake for the lake test and he called and said he had a problem. He said he was cranking it at home on the hose and he heard a loud pop and then the starter would spin freely and not engage. Immediately I though starter solenoid, starter or he trashed the flywheel teeth. He checked the teeth they where fine he went and purchased a new starter and the boat fired right up. Now every once in a while I have to bump the starter before I start the engine. Sometimes it spins and sometimes it does nothing like it doesn't have enough power to turn the big 7.4l. I almost seems like the starter or battery doesn't have enough power to turn hard enough to push the sprocket to engage the flywheel. Have any of you had this problem? Also what battery size goes in these boats or with the 7.4l merc? I am thinking of running a dual battery set up and going up on the cranking amps. Any help is greatly appreciated and I will reciprocate any help thanks

also I am thinking could it be the battery not being the right one and needing to be stronger?

What do you mean when you say bump the starter; tap it or turn the key briefly? Hard to tell but that loud pop could have been from the starter being loose or breaking a bolt. Test the battery voltage while trying to start to see what the voltage is. You could also have a bad slave solenoid that is causing a voltage drop to the starter.

Turn the key briefly not literally hitting the starter. I do this until it catches then it starts. Also do you know which model and number batteries come with the 7.4l? Thank you for your reply

You have 2 battery's.
When I have 7.4L (454) I was buying the 1000 cca marine battery.
I was running the refrigerator from them.
Never have any problem. Sometimes I was just fishing all day and use the radio and refrigerator on one battery. When time come to start, turn to 2 battery and start the engine with no problem.

__________________If they respect you, respect them. If they disrespect you, still respect them. Do not allow the action of others to decrease your good manner, because you represent yourself not others.-2001 Maxum 2100 SR2 Sport -1997 Regal 258 Commodore (Sold)

It sounds like you had two different problems. The starter spinning and not engaging the flywheel sounds like the bendix inside of the starter got stripped. The bendix gear should engage the starter gear, which engages with the flywheel.

A for 'bumping' the starter, does it just give a loud 'click' the first time you bump it? OR does it actually turn the engine over slightly?

As for batteries, the 7.4 requires around 650 cold-cranking amps (CCA). I used a Group 24 Starting battery for the 7.4